Overview of Lesson		Body of Lesson - Procedure & Assessment
Connection to the Curriculum,Standards and Skills		Activity One and Assessment
Grade Level		Activity Two and Assessment
Purpose of Lesson		Activity Three and Assessment
Primary Geographic Question		Assessment of Lesson
Secondary Questions		References
Materials

Overview of the Lesson

America is a country of many lands.  From the rugged coasts of Maine to the sandy beaches of California, and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, the physical landscape is as varied as the people who inhabit it.  But what factor underlies the picturesque mountains, valleys, and plains that we associate with our countryside?  Well, it's all a matter of your perspective...your elevational perspective, that is.  elevation, or height above sea level, is responsible for the patterns we see in the landscape.  It is also an influential factor in weather patterns, human settlement patterns, industry locations, and population densities.  In this lesson, students will learn to recognize the spatial elevation patterns of the U.S., and will gain an appreciation for the affect elevation has on weather and human populations.

Geography Standards

Standard 1:  How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.

Standard 2:  How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context.

Standard 3:  How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on the Earth's surface.

Standard 4:  The physical and human characteristics of places.

Standard 7:  The physical processes that shape the patterns of the Earth's surface.

Standard 9:  The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface.

Standard 15:  How physical systems affect human systems.

Alabama Course of Study:  Social Studies Content Standards (Grade 7)

Standard 1:  Explain map essentials:  type, size, shape, distance, direction, location, scale, symbols.

Standard 2:  Illustrate spatial information using data, symbols, and colors to create thematic maps.

Standard 3:  Illustrate graphically and analyze the distribution of major physical and human features on Earth's surface using different scales.

Standard 5:  Locate selected countries, cities, and physical features on maps, globes, and satellite images.

Standard 8:  Compare the physical and human characteristics of places using observation data and geographic resources.

Standard 11: Explain patterns in the physical environment within the context of physical processes.

Standard 15:  Describe human populations on Earth's surface.

Geographic Skills

Acquiring geographic information from various sources; organizing geographic information; analyzing maps; creating new geographic information from existing sources; identifying spatial patterns; associating Earth processes with observed spatial patterns; explaining how physical factors affect human activities.

Grade 7

To recognize the spatial patterns of elevation in the U.S. and relate these patterns to weather processes and human population densities.

How does elevation change across the U.S.?  what is the spatial pattern of elevation?

How do changes in elevation relate to changes in temperature and precipitation?  To changes in the population density of an area?

Where exactly are the mountains and plains of the U.S.?

How does a mental map differ from a real map?

• Atlas containing: U.S. map, U.S. population density map, U.S. annual precipitation map, U.S. temperature map
• Blank U.S. maps (to draw on)
• Colored Pencils/Markers
• Graph paper
• Ruler
• Pencil and Pen
• Notebook paper

Activity One

• Divide the students into small groups.  Explain to the students that a mental map is what they think a place looks like, or how they perceive a place to look.  Using graph paper and the colored pencils/markers, have each student draw a mental map of the U.S., showing the following features:
• Outline of the U.S.
• Appalachian Mountains
• Rocky Mountains
• Great Lakes
• Great Plains
• East Coast
• West coast
• Alabama
• Nebraska

Now have the students turn to the map of the U.S. in the atlas.  Refresh their memory on how to read the contour (elevation) lines.  Instruct each student to draw the contour lines as best they can on a blank U.S. map and color in the different areas of elevation using the colored pencils/markers.  Be sure to use highly contrasting colors to make the areas stand out.  Using the atlas referenced at the end of this lesson plan, there should be six different elevation levels to color in.  Each student should make a legend for this map relating elevation to color, and also label the features listed above on the map.  When each student is finished, he/she will compare the maps he/she has created.

Assessing Student Learning: Activity One

Have each student compare the two maps he/she created, and write a short paragraph on notebook paper explaining the difference between the two.  This will help them understand how their perception of the spatial arrangement of U.S. physical features differs from the real thing.  Then have the students share their maps and observations with each other in their groups.

Activity Two

• Using the U.S. map in the atlas, have the students (individually or as a group) draw a cross-section of the U.S. on graph paper from San Francisco through Denver, Kansas City (Missouri), Louisville, and Norfolk (Virginia).  This cross-section should go through all six elevation levels.  Make sure that these elevation changes are evident on the cross-section (they can be colored in as well), and that the cities are labeled on the cross-section.

Assessing Student Learning: Activity Two

If the cross-sections are done individually, students should share their cross-sections with their groups, and try to explain any differences they see in each other's work.  Each student should write a short paragraph on notebook paper discussing how the elevation of the U.S. changes from west (San Francisco) to east (Norfolk).

Activity Three

• Have each group compare their colored-in elevation maps and cross-sections to the U.S. temperature map.  Ask each group to answer on notebook paper the following questions: What is the temperature (winter or summer) of Denver and Norfolk? Which city is higher in elevation?  What does this tell you about the affect of elevation on temperature?
• Next have each group compare their maps and cross-sections to the U.S. precipitation map.  Ask each group to answer on notebook paper the following questions:  Why does the state of Nebraska receive less precipitation than Alabama?  What elevational feature causes Nebraska to be drier than Alabama? (It may be necessary to explain beforehand the concept of rainshadow, and the Rocky Mountains rainshadow effect on the Great Plains.)
• Next have each group compare their elevation maps to the U.S. population density map.  Ask each group to answer on notebook paper the following questions:  What is the population density of the Rocky Mountains (in general)?  What is the population density of southern Alabama?  Are the Rocky Mountains at a higher or lower elevation that southern Alabama?  What does this tell you about the affect of elevation on population density?  What is the relationship between elevation, climate, and population density?
• Lastly, using the U.S. map in the atlas, have each group identify two states the farthest from Alabama that contain the same elevation level as Alabama.  Then, have each group identify the states closest to Alabama with a higher elevation level and a lower elevation level (of course, there isn't one at a lower elevation level).  Have the students label these on their maps.  Ask the students this question:  What major physical feature lies in the lowest elevation level between Kansas City (Missouri) and Louisville?  Have the students label this feature on both their maps and cross-sections.

Assessing Student Learning: Activity Three

Have each of the groups present to the rest of the class the answers to one of the above questions or sets of questions (depending on the number of groups).  Encourage discussion among the groups if answers between groups vary.

Students should be able to articulate the differences between mental maps and real maps.  they should be able to explain how the elevation changes from west to east across the U.S., and how these changes affect temperature, precipitation, and population density patterns.  They should also be able to recognize the spatial pattern of elevation levels in the U.S., noting the locations of states with elevations similar to and different from their home state.

Goode's World Atlas (Rand McNally)

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Created by Jennifer Atwell.  9/8/98.  Last revision 9/30/98.  lkm